Rich media, poor democracy : communication politics in dubious times / Robert W. McChesney.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McChesney, Robert Waterman, 1952-

Series:

History of communication

The history of communication

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mass media--Political aspects--United States.

Mass media.

Mass media--Political aspects.

United States.

Mass media--Ownership--United States.

Mass media--Ownership.

Democracy--United States.

Democracy.

Physical Description:

xii, 427 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, [1999]

Summary:

Robert McChesney argues that the media, far from providing a bedrock for freedom and democracy, have become a significant antidemocratic force in the United States and, to varying degrees, worldwide.

Rich Media, Poor Democracy addresses the corporate media explosion and the corresponding implosion of public life that characterizes our times. Challenging the assumption that a society drenched in commercial information "choices" is ipso facto a democratic one, McChesney argues that the major beneficiaries of the so-called Information Age are wealthy investors, advertisers, and a handful of enormous media, computer, and telecommunications corporations. This concentrated corporate control, McChesney maintains, is disastrous for any notion of participatory democracy.

Combining unprecedented detail on current events with historical sweep, McChesney chronicles the waves of media mergers and acquisitions in the late 1990s. He reviews the corrupt and secretive enactment of public policies surrounding the Internet, digital television, and public broadcasting. He also addresses the gradual and ominous adaptation of the First Amendment ("freedom of the press") as a means of shielding corporate media power and the wealthy.

Rich Media, Poor Democracy exposes several myths about the media--in particular, that the market compels media firms to "give the people what they want"--that limit the ability of citizens to grasp the real nature and logic of the media system. If we value our democracy, McChesney warns, we must organize politically to restructure the media in order to affirm their connection to democracy.

Contents:

Introduction: The Media/Democracy Paradox 1

Part I Politics

1 U.S. Media at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century 15

2 The Media System Goes Global 78

3 Will the Internet Set Us Free? 119

Part II History

4 Educators and the Battle for Control of U.S. Broadcasting, 1928-35 189

5 Public Broadcasting: Past, Present, ... and Future? 226

6 The New Theology of the First Amendment: Class Privilege over Democracy 257

Conclusion: The U.S. Left and Media Politics 281.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [321]-394) and index.

ISBN:

0252024486

OCLC:

40403736